It Ends Here
by Y-Pen-yn-y-Garreg
Summary: What if instead of persuading Morgause to stop the Knights of Medhir herself, Merlin had chosen to fight her one on one? Alternate ending to "The Fires of Idirsholas".


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 **Screenplay terminology:  
** **INT. = interior  
** **EXT. = exterior**

* * *

MERLIN

"IT ENDS HERE"

FADE IN:

INT. KING'S PALACE (COUNCIL CHAMBERS) – DAY

The door to the council chambers bursts clean off of its hinges.

Inside, Merlin kneels on the stone floor, an unconscious Morgana clasped in his arms.

Morgause rushes inside and drops to her knees. She pulls Morgana out of Merlin's arms into her own. Merlin lets her. He scoots away, looking shell-shocked.

MORGAUSE  
(cradling Morgana)  
What has he done to you?

MERLIN  
(exhaling sharply)  
I had to.

Morgause feels Morgana's neck with her gauntleted hand.

MORGAUSE  
(turning in horror to Merlin)  
You poisoned her.

Merlin takes a steadying breath then draws himself to his feet, his countenance becoming stern.

MERLIN  
 _You_ gave me no choice.

MORGAUSE  
Tell me what you used and I can save her.

MERLIN  
First stop the attack.

MORGAUSE  
You're nothing but a simple servant. You don't tell me what to do.

Merlin opens his mouth to respond, but is interrupted by a cry from somewhere outside the council chambers.

MERLIN  
I haven't got time for this.

Merlin raises his hand, palm outward, and directs it at Morgause.

MERLIN  
 _Swelt!_

Golden fire burns in Merlin's eyes, but Morgause throws up her own hand, blocking the spell just in time.

MORGAUSE  
(looking at Merlin with new respect)  
You have magic.

MERLIN  
The ancient legends say that the Knights of Medhir can be  
stopped if the sorcerer commanding them is killed. If _you_ will  
not stop them, then I will put an end to this myself.

Morgause lowers Morgana to the floor and draws herself up as well.

MORGAUSE  
You cannot kill me. I am a High Priestess of the Old Religion.  
Your parlour tricks are no match for me.

Morgause throws both her hands outwards. The air darkens at her fingertips and rushes towards Merlin, crackling as though with lightning.

But Merlin stops the dark mass inches from his face and forces it back towards Morgause. The two of them grapple with it for a moment, each trying to push the dark energy towards the other, as all the while the lightning storm within grows in intensity.

Then Merlin prevails. The crackling darkness rushes at its originator, and she falls to the ground, gasping for breath.

Merlin wavers for only a moment, then he throws his arms out in front of him and the air ripples before him. Morgause falls back onto the ground, eyes wide, and moves no more.

INT. KING'S PALACE (CORRIDOR) – CONTINUOUS

As Arthur fights the Knights of Medhir, they suddenly crumple to the ground, nothing but empty shells.

INT. KING'S PALACE (COUNCIL CHAMBERS) – DAY

Arthur rushes into the chamber, followed by several red-cloaked knights. He stops short when he sees Morgause lying motionless on the ground.

ARTHUR  
(looking up at Merlin)  
Where's my father?

MERLIN  
He's safe.

Arthur glances towards a spot on the floor behind the throne, where Uther is beginning to sit up. He looks back at Morgause's lifeless body.

ARTHUR  
What happened?

MERLIN  
She tried to throw some kind of spell at me, but I ducked and  
it ricocheted off the wall, rebounded on her. She's dead.

Arthur takes a step towards Morgause, but then he spots Morgana lying a few feet away.

ARTHUR  
Morgana!

He rushes to her side and pulls her into his arms. He tries to shake her awake.

ARTHUR  
 _Morgana._  
(looking up at Merlin)  
What's happened to her?

MERLIN  
I – I don't …

Over by the throne, Uther has finally come to his senses. He stumbles towards Arthur and Morgana.

UTHER  
(dropping down beside Arthur)  
What's the matter with her?

ARTHUR  
I – I don't know.

UTHER  
(leaning closer to Morgana)  
She's not breathing.

He looks around frantically.

UTHER  
Gaius … Where's Gaius?

ARTHUR  
Merlin, fetch Gaius!

MERLIN  
I – Of course …

Blinking away tears, Merlin slips past the stunned-looking knights and hurries from the room.

CUT TO:

INT. GAIUS'S CHAMBERS – DAY

Gaius bends over Morgana who lies motionless on a table.

He straightens up, looking sombre.

GAIUS  
(turning slowly to look at Uther)  
I'm sorry, sire. There was nothing I could do. She's gone.

UTHER  
No. She can't be. You must be mistaken. Check again.

GAIUS  
(sympathetic but firm)  
I am truly sorry, sire, but there is no life in her.

UTHER  
No.

Uther pushes past Gaius and takes a hold of Morgana. He shakes her.

UTHER  
Morgana … _Morgana._

Arthur watches numbly as the scene unfolds before him. In an out-of-the-way corner stands Gwen, tears streaming down her face.

Uther pulls Morgana into his arms, rocking her back and forth.

UTHER  
(looking down at Morgana's lifeless face)  
How could this have happened?

He looks to Arthur for an answer. Arthur looks to Merlin.

MERLIN  
(voice cracking)  
I – She – When Morgause's spell rebounded, it must have hit  
Morgana as well … I – I'm sorry, Arthur …

ARTHUR  
(softly)  
It's not your fault, Merlin.

Merlin looks away, eyes welling with tears.

ARTHUR  
I'm sorry, Father … I should have protected her …

UTHER  
(gently lowering Morgana back onto the  
table and brushing her hair out of her face)  
No … that was my duty. Her loss will forever be on my  
conscience, not yours …

The look on Arthur's face tells a different story.

CUT TO:

INT. GAIUS'S CHAMBERS – NIGHT

Merlin and Gaius sit across from each other at the dining table. Merlin is hunched over his supper, not eating anything.

GAIUS  
(after a long silence)  
You did the right thing.

MERLIN  
You don't mean that. Morgana was your friend too, you …  
(looking away)  
… you cared about her.

GAIUS  
(softly)  
I did. But I fear that unlike you, Morgana chose not to use her  
gift for good.  
(after a silence)  
You had no choice.

Merlin shifts uncertainly.

GAIUS  
Would we be sitting here right now if you had not made that decision?

MERLIN  
Morgause told me that she could have cured Morgana if she  
knew what she'd been poisoned with … yet for all my magic,  
I didn't know how to save her.

GAIUS  
Healing magic is one of the most difficult branches of sorcery,  
Merlin. It takes years of study to master. There was nothing  
you could have done to save Morgana.

MERLIN  
Small comfort knowing I'm the one who poisoned her in the first place.

GAIUS  
Merlin –

MERLIN  
(interrupting)  
Arthur blames himself for not keeping her safe. How am I  
supposed to look him in the eye knowing that I'm the cause of  
his grief? His … and Uther's … and Gwen's. They're all devastated.

GAIUS  
Not as devastated as they would be if they had learned of  
Morgana's treachery. It's better they lose her like this, than to  
something far worse … Take solace in the knowledge that she  
will live on in their memories, unmarred, and that Morgause  
cannot continue to fill her heart with hatred. Who can say what  
the two of them would have gone on to do if they had lived?

Merlin sighs. But then a faraway look comes into his eyes, as though he's remembering something. He rises from his chair, abandoning his uneaten supper.

GAIUS  
Where are you going?

MERLIN  
I'll eat that later.

GAIUS  
Merlin?

MERLIN  
There's something I have to do.

CUT TO:

INT. KING'S PALACE (CAVERN) – NIGHT

Merlin walks out onto the ledge overlooking the cavern where the Great Dragon sits waiting on his usual perch.

GREAT DRAGON  
Why so gloomy, young warlock? You have done a great deed  
this day. You have rid Camelot of her most dangerous foe.  
(as an afterthought)  
And you even managed to dispose of her mentor along the way.

MERLIN  
(angrily)  
Morgana was my _friend_. You had me murder her.

GREAT DRAGON  
Is it murder to do what must be done to defend all that you  
hold dear? If you could see all that I have seen, you too would  
rejoice at the witch's early demise.

MERLIN  
I've told you not to call her that.

GREAT DRAGON  
No matter. The witch is neither here nor there. You have a  
promise to keep, young warlock.

CUT TO:

EXT. FOREST CLEARING – NIGHT

Merlin stands before the Great Dragon with a spear held aloft.

MERLIN  
(shouting up at the dragon)  
 _Go._ _Leave!_ If you _ever_ attack Camelot again, I _will_ kill you.

The dragon bows. Merlin lets the spear fall to the ground.

MERLIN  
I have shown you mercy. Now you must do the same to others.

GREAT DRAGON  
Young warlock, what you have shown is what you will be.

Merlin blinks. All of a sudden, he seems unable to hold the dragon's gaze. He looks away.

GREAT DRAGON  
This troubles you? Why?

MERLIN  
I – It's just …

GREAT DRAGON  
(sighing)  
This is about the witch –  
(catching the look on Merlin's face)  
– the Lady Morgana … You feel that you should have been  
more merciful to her.

Merlin says nothing, yet his silence says it all.

GREAT DRAGON  
(sadly)  
Mercy, no matter how plentiful, is not always enough, Merlin …  
If you could see what the Lady Morgana would have become,  
you might concede that her death … was a mercy in itself  
compared with the life she would have led. I know not what  
other comfort to offer you … save this: you have spared  
Camelot and its people much suffering in the future. You have  
spared Morgana herself a life filled only with pain and bitterness …  
You have spared Arthur the greatest trial he would ever have faced.

MERLIN  
Morgana was Arthur's friend too. He loved her like she was  
his own sister.

GREAT DRAGON  
And that is precisely why he would have suffered. That is  
precisely why she posed such a threat to his destiny.

MERLIN  
He's suffering _now_.

GREAT DRAGON  
What he feels now is nothing to the pain Morgana would have  
caused him in the future … I know this to be true, Merlin … I  
wish there were something I could say to you that you might  
know it too … I am sorry.

MERLIN  
What right have you to speak of suffering? Look around you.  
Look at all the misery you've caused.

GREAT DRAGON  
I no longer pose any threat to Camelot, Merlin. On this you  
have my word. It was not Morgana's fate to ever be able to  
say the same … But now Camelot is free to flower. There is  
only one left who might yet cause it to wither …

MERLIN  
(shrewdly)  
 _Mordred_. I will not murder anyone else for you. Morgana was enough.

GREAT DRAGON  
I said to you once before that an alliance between Mordred  
and Morgana must be prevented at any cost. You have done  
this. Perhaps it will be enough.

MERLIN  
It will _have_ to be.

GREAT DRAGON  
Let us hope that it is.  
(sighing)  
I shall go now … and I will not forget your clemency. I'm sure  
our paths will cross again.

The Great Dragon spreads his wings and launches himself into the night.

CUT TO:

EXT. GRASSY HILLSIDE – DAY

Uther kneels and places a final stone upon a white cairn.

UTHER  
(softly)  
I lay you to rest here, beside Gorlois, the greatest friend I ever  
had and the man you knew as father. I trust it is what you  
would have wanted … Morgana …

Uther rises. Beside the first cairn is another like it.

Uther takes a step backwards. An assemblage of the court of Camelot is gathered on the grassy hill all around.

Uther steps back to stand beside Arthur. Standing on Arthur's left, he briefly clasps his son's right shoulder with his right hand – apparently the closest thing to an arm around the shoulder a Pendragon can manage.

In a row several feet away, Merlin turns to Gaius.

MERLIN  
You were right. It is better for her to be remembered like this …  
better for everyone …

A group of woodwind pipers begin a dirge, slow and sorrowful, yet shot through with a strain of hope.

FADE OUT.

THE END

* * *

 **Any thoughts? Share them in a review. ;)**

 **Many fans say Merlin made Morgana evil by poisoning her, but maybe the biggest mistake Merlin made that day was to give Morgause what she needed to save Morgana. After all, it was allowing Morgause to take her away and cure her that put Morgana in a position to be indoctrinated by her older sister. If she had died then and there, at least she would have died with a fair amount of goodness left in her heart. I thought I'd explore this possibility.**

 **Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this is how it should have happened in the show. If Morgana had died at this point, the plot for the next three series would have vanished with her, and it would obviously have been an extreme under-utilisation of the character from Arthurian legend.**

 **Originally, I intended the story to end after Merlin's second conversation with the dragon. Since the only funerals we saw in Merlin were cremations, I had no idea what kind of rites would accompany burying someone in the royal burial vaults other than what we saw when Uther died, but I didn't think having individual characters go visit Morgana's body in state would work very well for the flow of the story, but then it occurred to me that instead of interring her in the royal burial vaults, Uther might decide to bury her next to Gorlois, which at this point, Morgana probably would have preferred to being buried as a member of the royal family anyway. I'm glad I had this idea, because I think the funeral scene wraps the story up a lot better than ending on the dragon scene.**

 **Note: I sometimes respond to reviews on the review page by posting my response as a separate review.** **If you have an account I'll also send you a copy of the response via PM, but if you review as a guest you may want to check the review page every now and then to see if your review has been replied to.**


End file.
